"The State of Israel ... will ensure complete equality of social and political
rights of all its inhabitants irrespective of religion ... it will guarantee freedom
of religion and conscience." - May 1948)

Modesty Police Militant Convicted Of Assault

Shmuel Weissfish was alleged to have hit employees of a computer store during Shabbat Square protests

On Tuesday, January 25th, the regional court in Jerusalem sentenced Shmuel Weissfish, an activist on the "Salvation Committee" of the modesty police of the Haredi council, to two years imprisonment. Gilad Grossman reports in Walla! that Weissfish was convicted of running amok, extortion, assault and grave injury with aggravating circumstances. He committed these crimes in violent demonstrations against a computer store on Shabbat Square in Jerusalem. Weissfish, aged 24, took part in 2008 in violent demonstrations there with about 15 youths from the Haredi council. Among other acts, he shoved employees of the computer stores and customers who were present there and began to destroy merchandise. He also threatened to kill the store employees and burn the place down, and called the workers "Nazis", "soul-burners" and "pigs". In one of the demonstrations, Weissfish dragged the store owner into the street with the help of

The accused was a conspicuous, aggressive figure

another militant, and held him while the other militant beat him. As a result of the blows, the store owner's nose and arm were broken. The acts were filmed by store employees, although Weissfish claimed that they "grafted" his image into the pictures. Judge Nava Ben Or did not accept that claim. In her verdict, the judge wrote: "The accused was a conspicuous, aggressive figure, from the hard core of the miscreants who made the lives of the store employees unbearable...we're talking about someone who was guided by a zeal which blinded his eyes and prevented him from remembering strict prohibitions." The judge considered the fact that Weissfish's wife is ill and he is caring for two children, and for that reason sentenced him to two years imprisonment and the payment of 50 thousand shekels in damages for the shop owner.